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Between 1986 and 2006, a sort of revolution occurred in Rhode Island: even as a dispiriting series of scandals shook the state’s corrupt political culture, activists, media and public disgust prompted an updraft of investigation and reform that ultimately changed Rhode Island for the better.
One of the premier activists of the period was Philip West, former Executive Director of Common Cause of Rhode Island, who has just penned a monumental insider’s account of the period, titled "Secrets...

From Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly: "Legal Luminaries Celebrate Pro Bono Collaborative"
November 10, 2014: More than 150 guests attended the Pro Bono Collaborative (PBC)’s 5th Annual Cocktail Reception at One Citizens Plaza Rotunda in downtown Providence, R.I. Community leaders and prominent members of the bench and bar, as well as students, faculty, alumni from Roger Williams University School of Law all gathered to celebrate and support the PBC, which partners Rhode Island law firms and...

From WPRO's Buddy Cianci Show: "Professor Peter Margulies on Child Immigration Crisis"
July 29, 2014: WPRO's Tara Granahan spoke to Professor Peter Margulies, Director of the Immigration Clinic at RWU Law, about current issues facing both Rhode Island and the nation, related to the more than 52,000 unaccompanied children who have entered the U.S. illegally over the past nine months from Central America.
To listen, click here.

From WPRI Channel 12 Newsmakers: "Yelnosky on pensions"
May 11, 2014: Join WPRI's Tim White and Ted Nesi for a crisp, high-level discussion with RWU Law Dean Designate Michael Yelnosky about the current status pension reform litigation, both in Rhode Island and nationally.
For full story, click here.

From PROIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS: “Pension settlement leaves future benefits uncertain” by Patrick Anderson, PBN Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE (Feb. 24, 2014): The nation has watched Rhode Island’s long struggle to repair its public pension system as a possible prologue to retirement overhaul efforts across the country.
The resolution, however, may leave as many questions open as answered. […] So if the pension settlement is approved, will it tilt the legal and political landscape toward future...

From NATIONAL JURIST: "Roger Williams opens experiential center, guarantees hands-on training"
See additional coverage in:
The Providence Journal
GoLocalProv
BRISTOL, R.I., August 8, 2013: Roger Williams University School of Law has introduced a new experiential learning center, and an explicit guarantee that students will get hands-on training while in school.
The Feinstein Center for Pro Bono and Experiential Education will be the school’s flagship for coordinating experiential learning...

PROVIDENCE, August 7, 2013 – Governor Lincoln D. Chafee announced today that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has accepted his invitation to participate in a “Charter Forum” which will highlight the role of Rhode Island’s 1663 Colonial Charter in shaping American jurisprudence. The event will take place on August 20, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. at the Chace Auditorium, Trinity Repertory Theatre, 201 Washington St., Providence. The event is sponsored by Roger Williams University School of Law....

From the PROVIDENCE JOURNAL: "For Russell, legal strategy will be complex: Lawyers who have worked on similar cases discuss what might be next for suspect’s widow" by Tracy Breton and Karen Lee Ziner, Journal Staff Writers
May 19, 2013: Whether or not Katherine Russell knew anything about her dead husband’s involvement in the Boston Marathon bombings, she still faces formidable legal challenges as federal authorities continue their intensive international investigation. [...]
“As a general...

From GoLocalProv: "Boston Bombings Investigation: RI Legal Experts Weigh In" by Kate Nagle, GoLocalProv News Contributor
April 22, 2013: [...] Following the arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, [...] there were calls from some in the political community to try Dzhokhar as an enemy combatant. As such, he could be subject to trial by military tribunal.
[...] Roger Williams University Professor of Law Jared A. Goldstein, who was one of the first civilian lawyers allowed into the Guantanamo Bay prison when...

From the Providence Journal: "POLITICAL SCENE: Hemond now a leading lobbyist" by Katherine Gregg, Philip Marcelo and Randal Edgar, Journal State House Bureau
March 25, 2013: Fresh off House Speaker Gordon D. Fox’s reelection campaign, political consultant Nick Hemond [RWU Law '12] has surfaced as one of the busiest — and best paid — lobbyists at the Rhode Island State House.
[...] Hemond was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar on Nov. 27, 2012.
For full story, click here.

From the Common Cause Rhode Island Report: "Meet Board President, Amy Goins ['12]"
Winter 2013: We are pleased to announce that our Governing Board elected Amy Goins [RWU Law '12] as President of the Board of Common Cause Rhode Island in November 2012.
Amy is a lifelong Rhode Islander and her election as President comes one year after her election as Secretary of the Board and two years after she joined the Board in 2010. Amy is a graduate of Roger Williams University School of Law and...

From the Providence Journal: "Same-sex bill does protect churches" by LEAH J. DONALDSON '07
March 12, 2013: In a Feb. 21 Commentary piece, Robin Fretwell Wilson, a law professor at Washington & Lee University, criticized the Rhode Island House for passing a marriage-equality bill (H.B. 5015) that she claimed fails to provide the same exemptions for religious organizations as “every other state” that lets loving and committed gay couples marry. I respectfully disagree [...]
For full story,...

From Narragansett Bay Journal: "Climate Change Adaptation: Efforts on the Ground. What Will the Future Bring?" by Julia Wyman
Julia Wyman is a staff attorney and adjunct professor at the Marine Affairs Institute at Roger Williams University School of Law/Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program.
Spring 2013: Climate change is impacting the world in tremendous ways: drought, wildfires, increased air and water temperatures, and decreased biodiversity are just a few examples.
Some of the areas that...

From COMMON GROUND: "Constitutionality of Pension Law in Question"
February 1, 2013 - Reading the op-ed pages of a certain local newspaper, one might gain the impression that the constitutionality of the contested pension reform law is all but assured -- that a state legislature has the freedom to undo what it has done, even when it comes to retirement benefits for state employees.
But the constitutionality of the law is far from certain, says a professor at the Roger Williams University School...

From BLOOMBERG LAW: "Is the New York 50 Hour Requirement Changing the Future of Law Student Pro Bono?" by Liz Tobin Tyler and David S. Udell
Law students have long been key players in important pro bono legal assistance efforts. They engage in a range of access to justice activities―working with mentoring attorneys on pro bono cases, staffing court pro se assistance programs, providing community legal education, and more. But the announcement last spring by the New York Court of Appeals of a 50...